Plow.



' G. R. STEPHENS.

PLOW.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 20, 1912.

Patented July 21, 1914.

2 sHnBTHaEmT 1.

0. R. STEPHENS.

PLOW.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 20, 1012.

Patented'July 21,1914.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 IJHE NORRIS PETER'S'CO" FHO'IO-LITHOH WASHINGNN. D. Q

TTNTTED SATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES R. STEPHENS, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MOLINE. PLOWCOMPANY, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

PLOW.

icence.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 21, 1914.

Application filed April 20, 1912. Serial No. 691,984.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, GHARLESR. STEPHENS,

' a citizen of the United States, residing at Moline, in the county ofRock Island and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Plows, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to plows of the form ordinarily known asdisk-plows. Such plows comprise one or more disks, each of which isordinarily of dish-shape; and such disks perform their plowing action bybeing drawn through the ground when set at the proper angle with respectto the line of draft and to the vertical. The angle at which each diskis supported as it is drawn forward is determined somewhat by thecharacter of the soil which is being acted upon and by the depth andcharacter of the furrow which is being plowed. As a general rule, eachdisk is set with its upper edge inclined backwardly and diagonally tothe line of draft. In most characters of soil, it is necessary that someform of scraper be used in conjunction with the disks of the plow, asotherwise they will become clogged with dirt or trash and cease to cutdesirable furrows, even if they do not become wholly inoperative.Ordinarily a. disk-plow will not only break up the soil to the fulldepth of the furrow, but will also carry up a large portion of the loweror bottom soil to the top and turn it over so as to leave it as the,

upper or top covering of the plowed ground-that is to say, such a plowwill turn or upset the major portion of the entire furrow slice cut orremoved by the disk. There are times, however, when it is undesirable toupset or turn over all of the soil of the furrow slice, and particularlyso when deep furrows are being plowed, because, as a rule, the subsoil,or the soil in the bottom or lower portion of the furrow, lacks certainelements in the form of plant food, and is to a certain extent dead, asit may be This is because it has not been exposed to the air andsunshine. The bene-- termed.

fit which comes from deep plowing in such cases is the loosening up orbreaking up and pulverizing of the subsoil, thus enabling the plants,such as sugar-beets, for example, to more easily penetrate into it whilederiving their nourishment from near the top, and, at the same time,gradually bringing the lower or subsoil into those conditions that willeventually cause it to become fertile and nutritious. From the above itwill be seen that to secure the best results in deep plowing, thesubsoil or lower layers of the earth should be loosened and broken up ordisintegrated, but should not be turned over nor brought prematurely tothe surface. Therefore, the ordinary disk-plow as at present usedpresents the disadvantages that it not only loosens up the subsoil, butupsets or turns it over and brings it to the surface, where it is notwanted, while at the same time turning under and burying the surfacesoil to such a depth that its useful properties are renderedunavailable.

The main object of this invention is to provide a disk-plow for deepplowing and to associate with the same some element. such as a scraperor other device, so formed and arranged that it shall prevent the lowerlayers of soil from being brought to the surface and turned over ontothe top of the plowed ground, but at the same time will permit the diskto perform its function of breaking and pulverizing the lower layers ofsoil as well as the upper while turning over only the upper portion ofthe furrow slice, and thus keeping it on top of the plowed andpulverized ground.

Another object of my invention is to associatethe scraper or otherdevice with the disk in such a way that no matter what the depth of thefurrow may be which is being turned at any given time, it will bepossible to regulate or adjust the depth or thickness of the upper layerof the furrow slice, which will be upset or turned over and left on topof the pulverized bed or mass, by adjusting the scraper or scrapingdevice up or down with respect to the diameter of the disk, so as toturn or upset only a desired thickness or portion of the furrow slice.

Another object of my invention is to form the scraper or disk-cleaningdevice of such a peculiar shape as that it will turnover the desired toplayer or portion of the furrow slice with a natural mold-board-likeaction, thus distributing evenly that portion of the furrow cut,predetermined to turn, over the unturned lower portion of the furrowout. In this process all surface verdureor fertilizer may beevenlycovered' at a predetermined depthj Other objects and uses willappear from a detailed description of the invention, which consists inthe features of construction and combination of parts hereinafterdescribedand claimed.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a vertical face view orfront elevation of a diskplow provided'with one form of my soil-turningscraper; Fig. 2 is a vertical perspective-view of the parts shown inFig. 1 and brings outmore clearly the curved or mold-board 'forlnofthe-scraper by which the upper" portion of 'the'furrow slice is turnedover or upset; Figz'S shows a plan view of the parts illustrated in Fig.1, as they j appear from above; Fig. ashows a side view'or face-view ofthe bracket,

and also the adjustment bracket for positioning it at different heightsup and down. as I 'may'desiretoturna greater or lesslayer or portion ofthe furrow slice. It will'be understood that I show only a singleplowing-diskfor the reason that in a gang plow the elements ofthis'invention would simply be repeated a desired number of times whilean ordinary singleplow-would coniprise only'a single one of these diskswith its associated parts.

The numeral' T designatesa bracket" or other element which in thepresent instance really constitutes the frame which 5 supports thedisk-plow. In-the case-ofa gang-plow,

however, a' number" of similar bars or brackets might be mounted'on acommon framework. The end 8 ofthis frame bar is outturned andconstitutes a'support for the bracket whlch carries the disk. Thebracket 9 is secured to the :bar in any suitable mannery as bymeans ofbolts 10, and carries adisk mounting 11 :at. its "lower end. The disk12' 1s concavo-convex or dlsh-shaped and is mounted to rotate freely-"onthe mounting 11. Reference particularly to Figsr2zand3 will show moreperfectly the general angle at which'the disk is set: Its:

inner edge 18 is'set considerably forward ofxthe outer'edge 14:, thusgiving it a diagonal position; and its upper'edge' 15"is setconsiderably backror to the rear of 'its'lower edge '16, thus 'giving'ita backward incline from %the' vertical; The degree of t'he angle-- atwhich the. disk is -set wi'll dependgen and outwardly,as the diskadvances, as

shown by the arrows band 0 in Fig. 1. Now,

if no means were provided for regulatingthe 5 amount of soil or theportion of the furrow slice-to be turned or upset, it will be seen thatall of the furrow slice, including the lowermost portion thereof, wouldbe carried 3 and delivered or upset by the disk practically 1 on top, sothat the bottom or subsoil would j form the top or covering of theplowed. groundand be thereby subject to the'objection already mentioned,of leaving the dead, unprepared, and non-fertile soil on the top, thuspreventing the proper suste na'nce and growth of the plant life forwhich the'field was intended. To prevent this, I

have provided a mold-board scraper which simultaneously performs boththe functions of cleaning the disk and of regulating or determining whatthickness or portion of the fur-row slice shall be turned over or upset.In-the particular embodiment illustrated in the drawings, this means ordevice consists ofthe member 18, which, for convenience, I

term-a mold-board scraper. It consists of a curved plate having itslower edge inclining backwardly and upwardly from its lowest and mostforwardly position point 20 to the might lodge on and clog the same, andof a niold-boarch'which turns and bends the upper'portion of the furrowslice so as to upset it in theymanner' of a mold board on an ordinaryplow; 7 As the disk advances through thesoil, the furrow slice will tendto move upwardly substantially in the direction of the arrowb of Fig.1.; It will'e'ncounter the lower edge of the scraper approximately atthe point '20, and will then move" outwardly in the general direction ofthe curvedsurface of thescrapertoward the outer end of the same: As thefurrow'slice'thus advances across the curving face of the scraper, its

upper portion or layer will be turned over or upset by reason of'thepeculiar contour of such member, and,'o-naccount of. the fact of theresistanc'e of the scraper, the action will lee-equivalent to exerting adownward pressure on the upper portion of the soil to make it conform tothe contour and curvature of the scraper. From this action it resultsthat the top of the furrow slice cut by the disk cannot rise higher thanpermitted by the position of the upper curved edge of the scraper, andthe bottom of the furrow slice being confined by the pressure of thefurrow top against the scraper cannot rise or be carried to the surfaceand must pass by at its natural depth. Of course, the soil can movesidewise so as to work off in the direc tion of the arrow 0 of Fig. 1,but it cannot rise higher than the limit determined by the position ofthe scraper. The bending or turning over. of the upper layer of thefurrow slice as it is carried sidewise across the disk, while preventingits upward movement beyond the desired limit, is determined and assistedby the mold-board-like form or con tour of the scraper. While apredetermined portion of the top of the furrow slice is turned over orupset by the mold-board scraper, the soil from the lower portions of thefurrow simply moves sidewise without coming to the surface. This actionof moving or displacing the soil from the lower portion of the furrow insidewise direction breaks it up and pulverizes it to a certain extent,so that the entire furrow slice is broken up. In other words, bycombining the mold-board scraper with the furrow-opening disk, theentire furrow slice will be displaced laterally and broken up, but onlythe upper portion will be turned over or upset and brought to thesurface.

As already stated, means are provided for raising and lowering themold-board scraper with respect to the diameter of the disk, so as todetermine what portion of the furrow slice shall be turned over orupset. To this end, the scraper is carried by a rod or bar 2'7, whichhas its lower end rigidly secured to the scraper approximately at itscentral portion. The upper end of the bar is ad justably carried by asuitable portion of the frame. In the present instance a bracket 28 iscarried over from the bar 8, or from the bracket 9, and has its lowerend 29 secured to the bar 8 or bracket 9. It carries on its upper end abracket 30 having a downwardly depending cup-shaped portion 31, the cupface 82 of which is preferably corrugated or roughened. A yoke 33 hasits outer edge 3% of suitable formation to seat within the cup of theportion 31 and is also preferably roughened or corrugated like the face32. This yoke has notched lugs 35 and 36 arranged to receive the upperend of the bar 527 which carries the scraper. An eye-bolt 37 extendsthrough the yoke and through the cup-member 31, having its eyeencircling the bar which carries the scraper. By tightening up the nutor look 38, the eye is drawn inward, so as to securely grip the bar 27against the yoke, and, at the same time, to draw the yoke tightly intothe cup-portion 31, so that it will be held securely against rotation.By referring particularly to Fig. 2, it will be seen that as the scraperis adjusted up or down on the disk, the bar 27 must swing with respectto the bracket 30. This swinging and simultaneous up and down movementof the bar are well accommodated by means of the bracket just described.It will be noticed, however, that as the scraper is raised or lowered,such raising or lowering is in a practically straight line as theobserver faces the disk, as in Fig. 1.

To guard against accidents which might occur to the operator standing orriding on the gang-plank or platform of disk-plows when arranged inmultiple series,I have provided the guard 39, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and3. This guard comprises a band or plate having its lower end 40 securedto the bar 27, and thence curving up substantially on or along thecontour of the edge of the disk, as shown in Fig. 1, and having itsupper end 41 secured to the bracket 28 which carries the scraper. Bymeans of this guard, an operator is well protected from falling intocontact with the sharp edge of the rotating disk should an accidenthappen to him while standing or moving on the platform or gang-plankwhile the plow is in operation.

I claim:

In an implement of the class described the combination with aconcavo-convex disk having its concave face set toward the direc tion ofmovement, said disk being set at an angle to the line of draft andhaving its upper edge tilted backwardly, of a moldboard scraper set inengagement with the concave face of said disk, the lower engaging edgeof said scraper being of arcuate formation, a stem rigidly con nected tothe scraper and extended upwardly therefrom in a direction substantially at right angles to the arcuate contact edge, a mounting for saidstem to permit the stem and scraper to be set into different verticaladjustments with respect to the disk, said stem and mounting beingrelatively so positioned that the stem always lies at an angle withrespect to the vertical and whereby the adjustments of the stem andscraper are in the direction of the length of the stem, and meanspermitting the lower end of the stem which carries the scraper to swingforwardly and backwardly, whereby as the stem and scraper are adjustedup and down the arcuate edge of the scraper may be maintained in contactwith the concave face of the disk, the upper edge of the scraper rightangles to the stem, whereby as the zonta'l to permit "the furrow shoe torise as scraper is sit into difl'erent up and down adit travels towardthe edge of the disk. 'ustments t e arcuate ed e of the scra er rev Tnains in contact With @113 disk, and whereby CHARLES 'STEPHEL as saidadjustments are secured the for- NVitnesses:

wardly projecting portion of the scraper al- T; C. BLANDING,

Ways remains tilted at an angle to the hori- JAMES J. LAMB.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Gommissionerof Patents,

Washington; D. C.

